Irvington quadruple slaying, arson leads to indictment against two Essex men

IRVINGTON -- A reputed Bloods gang member and an accomplice were indicted on charges stemming from one of Irvington's most heinous attacks, a quadruple homicide that left a popular cheerleading coach and three teenagers shot to death in a home torched to conceal the crime, authorities said.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow today said a grand jury on Friday returned a 15-count indictment against the defendants -- both ex-convicts -- for the Sept. 8, 2008 slayings at a three-family home on Irvington's Columbia Avenue.

The accused -- Rolando Terrell, 37, of Newark, whose nickname is Ratman, and Lester Hayes, 47, of Irvington, known as Mufeed -- are charged with fatally shooting the victims in the first floor of the three-family home in what detectives believe was a botched hunt for cash or drugs, authorities said.

"To cover their tracks, they set the place on fire," said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

Killed in the crime were Candes McLean, 40, a popular cheerleading coach in the Newark Pop Warner League, as well as her 18-year-old daughter, Talia McLean; 13-year-old stepdaughter, Latrisha Carruthers-Fields; and cousin Zaykiyyah Jones, 18, all of Irvington.

The youngest of the victims was shot in the face, drawing revulsion from even seasoned law-enforcement veterans.

"I can't conceive of a 13-year-old child being shot in the face. ... That is unconscionable," Irvington Police Chief Michael Chase said shortly after the slayings.

Authorities said Terrell was an associate of Michael Fields, who is now in jail and was McLean's boyfriend.

Today, Terrell was being held on $2 million bail at the Essex County Jail and Hayes was being held on $500,000 bail. The grand jury upgraded the original charges against Hayes from robbery to murder, according to Loriquet.

Shortly after the crime, both defendants surrendered to authorities, Hayes on Sept. 10 and Terrell three days later. Terrell is allegedly a ranking member of the Double ii faction of the Bloods gang, an East Orange-based group described as one of the more violent factions of the gang in New Jersey.

Michael Robbins, the attorney representing Terrell, said his client will enter a plea of not guilty to the indictment.

"If ever there was a court case in a courtroom in a courthouse in this state of ours that is going to be in dispute, this is the courthouse and this is the court case," Robbins said.

The state, he said, is relying on Hayes.

"From what we know, the state here has built its case upon the shoulders of perhaps the least reliable person on the planet ... the codefendant," Robbins said.

Hayes' attorney, Paul Feinberg, declined comment.

In 2002, Terrell was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of a Latin Kings member at a Newark social club after his attorney argued that it was an act of self-defense. But he was convicted of gun possession and served seven years behind bars until his release in April 2008. Hayes served 18 years in prison for a string of robberies and drug offenses in the late 1980s before his release on Oct. 3, 2006.

Michael Hoskins, the brother of victim Candes McLean, said he hopes only that justice is served. "The family, we need closure," Hoskins said.

He made note of the sometimes slow-moving judicial system.

"As long as it takes for this court thing, the more pain there is, and that's scary," he said. "If there's not a conviction, if there's not a conviction, what if this guy walks? People are in danger."